Former EU foreign policy chief Mogherini detained in diplomatic training fraud probe

Belgian federal police arrested Federica Mogherini, the European Union's former top diplomat, on Tuesday morning as part of a widening investigation into suspected fraud surrounding an EU-funded training programme for junior diplomats. The European Public Prosecutor's Office (EPPO) confirmed that three suspects were taken into custody during coordinated raids on the College of Europe in Bruges and the European External Action Service (EEAS) headquarters in Brussels.

Mogherini, 52, who served as High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy from 2014 to 2019, has led the College of Europe since 2020. She was detained alongside the institution's deputy head and Stefano Sannino, who served as EEAS secretary general from 2021 until 2024. The arrests mark the most high-profile enforcement action yet by the EPPO, the independent prosecution office established in 2021 to investigate crimes against the EU's financial interests.

The training contract at the centre of the probe

The investigation focuses on the European Union Diplomatic Academy, a nine-month training programme for junior diplomats from across member states. The EEAS awarded the contract to the College of Europe for the 2021-2022 period, with a value of approximately €2.5 million. According to the EPPO statement, prosecutors are examining whether the tender process was manipulated to favour the College of Europe, which Mogherini heads and which also hosts the academy.

The prosecutor's office stated there are "strong suspicions that confidential information related to the ongoing procurement was shared with one of the candidates participating in the tender." If proven, the allegations could constitute procurement fraud, corruption, conflict of interest and violation of professional secrecy. The probe was initially triggered by a referral from the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF), the Commission's internal investigative body.

Immunity lifted before dawn raids

A critical procedural step preceded Tuesday's operations. The EPPO confirmed it had "requested and obtained the lifting of immunity of several suspects prior to the searches." Both Mogherini and Sannino would have benefited from functional immunity for acts performed in their official capacities, Mogherini as a former High Representative and Sannino as a senior EEAS official. The lifting of that immunity suggests prosecutors presented sufficient evidence to the relevant authorities to justify treating the alleged acts as falling outside official duties.

The raids themselves were extensive. Belgian federal police, acting on EPPO instructions, searched not only the College of Europe's Bruges campus and EEAS offices in Brussels but also the private residences of the suspects. The operation signals that investigators have moved beyond preliminary inquiries into the evidence-gathering phase of a formal criminal investigation.

Institutional context and the chain of command

The timeline of the alleged irregularities spans a sensitive period in the EEAS's recent history. The training contract was awarded between 2021 and 2022, during the tenure of Josep Borrell as High Representative (2019-2024) and while Sannino served as secretary general, the service's most senior civil servant. Mogherini had left the High Representative post in 2019 but assumed leadership of the College of Europe in 2020, placing her on the other side of the contracting relationship.

The European Commission confirmed the raids through spokesperson Anitta Hipper, who stated: "We can confirm that the police was today at the EEAS buildings, and this is part of the ongoing investigation of the activities that took place before in the previous mandate." The careful phrasing, "previous mandate", distances the current leadership under Kaja Kallas, who took office as High Representative in December 2024, from the period under scrutiny.

The College of Europe's unique position

Founded in 1949, the College of Europe in Bruges occupies a distinctive place in the EU ecosystem. It is the continent's oldest postgraduate institute for European studies, funded by member states and EU institutions, and its alumni populate the upper reaches of the Commission, Parliament and national diplomatic services. Mogherini's appointment as rector in 2020 was seen as a natural transition for a former High Representative. The institution's dual role, as both a training provider and the host of the EU Diplomatic Academy, creates an inherent structural overlap that the EPPO will now examine for potential conflicts of interest.

The academy itself was launched in 2019 under Mogherini's tenure as High Representative, designed to create a common diplomatic culture across the EU's 27 foreign services. That the same individual would later lead the institution awarded the contract to run it is a circumstance that, while not inherently improper, inevitably draws prosecutorial scrutiny.

Political reverberations across the institutions

The arrests arrive at a delicate moment for EU foreign policy. Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, has been in office for barely a year and is attempting to assert a more muscular European role on Ukraine, the Middle East and China. The shadow of a corruption investigation involving her immediate predecessors, both Borrell and now Mogherini, complicates that narrative. While Borrell has not been named as a suspect, the contract was awarded on his watch and under his secretary general.

The European Parliament's foreign affairs committee will almost certainly demand a full briefing. MEPs have long complained about opacity in EEAS procurement and the revolving door between the service and the College of Europe. The case may accelerate calls for stricter conflict-of-interest rules for senior officials moving between EU institutions and EU-funded bodies.

Legal process and presumption of innocence

The EPPO was careful to frame its announcement in conditional terms. "The investigation is ongoing to clarify the facts and assess whether any criminal offences have occurred," the statement read. In Belgium, as across the EU, detention at this stage is an investigative measure, not a determination of guilt. The suspects will appear before an investigating judge who will decide whether to order pre-trial detention, release under conditions, or release without restrictions. The lifting of immunity applies only to the investigative phase; any prosecution would require separate authorisation.

Mogherini's legal team has not issued a public statement. Sannino, a career diplomat who served in multiple EEAS postings including as managing director for global issues, likewise has not commented. The College of Europe released a brief note acknowledging the searches and stating it would cooperate fully with investigators.

A test for the EPPO's founding promise

When the European Public Prosecutor's Office began operations in 2021, its advocates argued that only a supranational prosecutor could overcome the national political sensitivities that had long shielded high-level EU fraud from serious investigation. The Mogherini case is the first to target a former member of the College of Commissioners, the EU's executive cabinet, and a former head of a major EU institution. Whether the EPPO can translate today's dramatic arrests into a robust prosecution will shape perceptions of the office for years. For now, the investigation proceeds behind the closed doors of a Brussels courtroom, where the evidence will speak louder than the headlines.